The Music

Ludwig van Beethoven’s exuberant Seventh Symphony seems to reflect the rejuvenation he felt during a period of recuperation in the Bohemian spa town of Teplitz at the time he began writing the symphony in 1811.

Rhythmic drive was not new for Beethoven – you only need to think of the famous four-note opening of the Fifth Symphony (da-da-da DAH!) – but in the Seventh he took rhythm’s propulsive force to a new level. Each of the four movements is driven by constant repetition of tight rhythmic patterns.

The first movement opens with a slow introduction that is timeless and elemental, similar in mood to ‘The Representation of Chaos’ that opens Joseph Haydn’s oratorio The Creation. Already here there’s a hint of the prominent role rhythm will play in the symphony – the steady, regular pattern of the rising scales and the repetitions on a single note. Then there’s a heart-stopping Morse code-like exchange, with violins answering flute and oboe, before the movement proper, which is marked Vivace (lively). The whole of the movement is then dominated by a three-note bouncing figure, like an obsessive mantra.

The Music

If you think the title ‘My Melodies’ implies that Lachenmann, who wrote the piece in his early eighties, has softened in his autumn years, think again. These are very much ‘his’ melodies – you could say a subversion of melody: fragmented, alternative, at best, deeply concealed. The fact that he quotes a German folk song near the end or (even less audibly) a brief theme from the Second Piano Concerto by Serge Rachmaninoff – ironically, the king of spinning a good tune – is neither here nor there. This piece is a symphony of precisely notated air-blowing, swishing, scraping and breathing (‘It really puffs and pants,’ he says), with crisp punctuations and bell-like resonances joining in an ever-shifting and unpredictable canvas.

The eight solo horns perform not as individuals but as one super-horn. Running as a continuous span of around 40 minutes, there’s little to get a handle on in terms of form or structure. Which means that there are no preconceptions as to how we should listen or respond. The only requirement is to stick with it to the end. Lachenmann himself never judges a piece after only one listening since, he says, at this stage, ‘I’m out in the jungle’. Tonight we’re all out in the jungle and the best thing we can do is to enter with heightened senses and a spirit of adventure.

LSO Horns

Diego Incertis Sánchez LSO Principal Horn

Diego Incertis Sánchez was born in Valladolid, Spain, where he started playing the horn at age eight under the guidance of Carlos Balaguer. He went on to learn with Radovan Vlatkovic and Rodolfo Epelde in Madrid, before transferring to the Royal College of Music in London to study with Nigel Black, Timothy Jones and Jeffrey Bryant. He has previously held both the Third Horn and Principal chairs at the Philharmonia Orchestra, with whom he appeared as a soloist playing Robert Schumann’s Konzertstück for Four Horns and Orchestra. He often appears as a guest Principal with other London orchestras and is a Professor of Horn at the Royal College of Music.

Timothy Jones LSO Principal Horn

Timothy Jones started playing the horn at the age of 15 and won a position playing in the Munich Philharmonic at the age of 17. He has previously held positions with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. As a soloist he has appeared at the Salzburg Festival, Pacific Music Festival, Royal Festival Hall and the Schausspielhaus and Philharmonie halls in Berlin. His recording of the Kenneth Fuchs Horn Concerto with the LSO was nominated for a Grammy award, and his recording of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Second Horn Concerto with the LSO is one of the most streamed tracks on the LSO Live label. He is a Professor of Horn at the Royal College of Music and Director and Co-Owner of the renowned horn company PAXMAN Limited.

Angela Barnes LSO Second Horn

Having started horn lessons with her mother aged eight, Angela Barnes went on to study with Lizzie Davis at Chetham’s School of Music and later Hugh Seenan, Jeffrey Bryant, Richard Bissill and Jonathan Lipton at the Guildhall School, where she is now a Professor of Horn. During her final year of study she was offered the Second Horn position with the LSO, and upon joining became the first female member of the Orchestra’s brass section. Solo appearances include Richard Strauss’ Second Horn Concerto with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, as part of the BBC Young Musician Concerto Final and Robert Schumann’s Konzertstück with the LSO in Berlin’s Philharmonie.

Jonathan Maloney LSO Fourth Horn

Jonathan Maloney was born and raised in Glasgow, and started learning the horn in school. He studied at the Royal Northern College of Music with Lizzie Davis and Julian Plummer, and then the Royal College of Music in London with Simon Rayner and Jeffrey Bryant. After graduating, he worked throughout the UK and abroad as a freelance musician and was acting Fourth Horn with the Philharmonia Orchestra from 2016–2018 before joining the LSO as Fourth Horn in 2022. As a soloist Jonathan has appeared in the solo quartet for Robert Schumann’s Konzertstück with the Philharmonia Orchestra at London’s Royal Festival Hall, and has recently been appointed Professor of Horn at the Royal College of Music.

Katy Woolley

Born in Exeter, Katy Woolley began playing horn at age ten. She went on to study with Sue Dent and later Simon Rayner, graduating from the Royal College of Music in London with a first class degree and receiving the Tagore Gold Medal from the Prince of Wales. Having been appointed to the Third Horn position whilst still a student, Katy was appointed Principal Horn of the Philharmonia Orchestra at age 22. In 2019 she was appointed Principal Horn of the Concertgebouworkest in Amsterdam, and returns to London as International Visiting Professor of Horn at the Royal Academy of Music. As a soloist she has appeared with the Philharmonia Orchestra, London Mozart Players and New York Philharmonic.

Annemarie Federle

Annemarie Federle was appointed as Principal Horn of the Aurora Orchestra in October 2022, and Principal Horn of the LPO in January 2023. At the age of 17, she won the Brass Category Final of the 2020 BBC Young Musician competition. She was a semifinalist in the 2021 ARD International Music Competition in Munich, and winner of the Gianni Bergamo Classic Music Award in the same year. Annemarie recently graduated with First Class Honours from the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she studied with Richard Watkins, David Pyatt, Michael Thompson, Kira Doherty and Roger Montgomery.

Richard Watkins

Richard Watkins was Principal Horn of the Philharmonia Orchestra from 1985 until 1996, and is currently a member of the Nash Ensemble and a founder member of London Winds and the Transatlantic Horn Quartet. He has appeared at many of the world’s most prestigious venues in the UK, Europe and the US, as well as being one of the most in-demand studio musicians, regularly recording for film and tv. One of his more recent appearances was as the Solo Horn on the score for Netflix’s multi-award winning TV series, The Crown. Watkins holds the Dennis Brain Chair of Horn Playing at the Royal Academy of Music where he is also a Fellow.

Ben Goldscheider

Ben Goldscheider has premiered over 50 new works for the horn to date including concerti, solo, chamber and cross-genre projects including with live electronics and lighting. Born in London in 1997, Ben studied at the Royal College of Music Junior Department with Susan Dent and in 2020 Ben completed his studies with honours at the Barenboim-Said Academy in Berlin with Radek Baborák. He was a prize-winner at the 2019 YCAT International Auditions, Concerto Finalist in the 2016 BBC Young Musician Competition, and an ECHO Rising Star for the 2021/22 season nominated by the Barbican, London, and now holds professorships at the Royal Conservatory in Antwerp and is the Artist in Association at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.

The London Symphony Orchestra

At the London Symphony Orchestra, we strive to inspire hearts and minds through world-leading music-making. We were established in 1904 as one of the first orchestras shaped by its musicians, and today we’re ranked among the world’s top orchestras. As Resident Orchestra at the Barbican since the Centre opened in 1982, we perform some 70 concerts here every year. We also perform over 50 concerts a year to audiences throughout the UK and worldwide, and deliver a far-reaching programme of recordings, live-streams and on-demand broadcasts.

Through our world-leading learning and community programme, LSO Discovery, we’re connecting people from all walks of life to the power of great music. Our musicians are at the heart of this unique programme. In 1999, we formed our own recording label, LSO Live, which has become one of the world’s most talked-about classical labels. As a leading orchestra for film, we’ve entertained millions with classic scores for Star Wars, Indiana Jones and many more.

Programme Notes Edward Bhesania. Edward Bhesania is a music journalist and editor who writes for The Stage, The Strad and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama.
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